Donald Cummins (2 June 1931 – 4 October 2024), better known as Peter Cummins, was an Australian actor of stage and screen and chorister who was especially prominent in the 1970s and appeared in some of the most famous Australian films of the period.
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Early life
Peter Cummins was born on 2 June 1931, in Melbourne, Victoria. Before becoming an actor, he was a plumbing teacher.
Career
Cummins was part of the Carlton group that were influential in Australian theatre of the early 1970s, which also included David Williamson, Max Gillies, Graeme Blundell and Bruce Spence. He performed extensively for the stage, working for all of Australia's major theatre companies, including the Melbourne Theatre Company for whom he appeared in The Christian Brothers, The Threepenny Opera, Glengarry Glen Ross, Trumpets and Raspberries, The One Day of the Year, Heartbreak House, The Servant of Two Masters, Romeo and Juliet, As You Like, And the Big Men Fly and A Respectable Wedding.
He also undertook a two year contract with Adelaide's Lighthouse Theatre (now State Theatre Company of South Australia) under the artistic direction of Jim Sharman from 1982 to 1984, alongside fellow actors Geoffrey Rush, Melissa Jaffer, Gillian Jones, Melita Jurisic, Russell Kiefel, Robert Menzies, Robert Grubb, Kerry Walker and John Wood.
